beverages

But you'll have to go to Japan to sample Chu-Hi

(Newser) -
Coke: the pause that intoxicates. At least in Japan, where the Coca-Cola Co. will now offer a boozy carbonated beverage called Chu-Hi. The Telegraph reports this "alcopop" will be made up of fizzy water, flavoring, and a distilled Japanese alcohol called shochu, which Forbes has described as "the...
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Calif. family sues chain after blood from barista found in their beverage cups

(Newser) -
A California family has suffered "stress, nervousness, fright, anguish, grief, anxiety, worry, and shock for several months," says a release on a lawsuit they just filed—all because of a trip to Starbucks. KTLA reports on Amanda and Louis Vice, who say they visited a San Bernardino Starbucks...
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Beverage company owners had countersued feline's team over licensing deal tied to coffee

(Newser) -
Taking on Starbucks and its mermaid logo: an iced coffee drink featuring Grumpy Cat. That was the plan, anyway, per the owners of a beverage company who say they teamed up with the famous feline's owners to start the brand, then say they were let down by the Grumpy...
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Salted Caramel in the US, cake-flavored Christmas Cola in Japan

(Newser) -
You can now have your cake and drink it, too. Food & Wine reports on a new limited-edition dessert-flavored drink from Pepsi, though you'll have to travel to Japan to sample it. Christmas Cola, which goes on sale there Nov. 21, is a white soda that Kotaku describes as...
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It appears petition in Tempe, Ariz., is a joke, but the water can smell and taste awful there

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Residents of an Arizona city with foul-smelling, unpalatable drinking water have proposed a solution that would make Starbucks proud: have the water company infuse it with pumpkin spice flavoring. The Arizona Republic reports on Tempe's tap-water woes, which are so pervasive the city is forced to acknowledge them on...
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Introducing the avocado latte

(Newser) -
We don't anticipate Keurig coming out with guacamole pods anytime soon, so in the meantime, we'll have to make do with a new concoction brewed up by Australia's Truman Cafe. That concoction, per BuzzFeed , is the avolatte, or avocado latte, which is pretty much exactly what it...
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New beverage called 'Clear Coffee' promises to prevent staining

(Newser) -
Two Slovakian brothers are promising to protect coffee lovers from stained teeth with a concoction they're calling the world's "first colorless coffee drink." It looks like a bottle of water, but CLR CFF is a "potent, cold brew," per the Evening Standard . Self-described heavy...
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(Newser) -
Have some hot beverage with your sugar. That's the roundabout finding of a UK health advocacy organization that discovered hot flavored drinks served by chains like Starbucks, McDonald's, and Dunkin' Donuts can contain a "shocking" amount of sugar—sometimes up to 25 teaspoons per serving, or more...
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Put down that La Croix and read this

(Newser) -
Desk jockeys are more and more often turning to La Croix, Perrier, and club soda to get through the work day, the Atlantic reports. In fact, sparkling water sales have doubled in the past five years. "For me, rock bottom was a recent, obscenely long workday during which an...
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Smaller brands like LaCroix enjoying huge success as soda alternative

(Newser) -
With a growing number of people quitting soda, Coke and Pepsi have been venturing more into energy drinks, craft sodas, and milk , in an effort to boost sales. That's left room for smaller brands like LaCroix to enjoy huge success with sparkling water. LaCroix sales have jumped 45% since...
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Switchel—aka haymaker's punch—is the big thing in Brooklyn now

(Newser) -
PBR has fallen out of Brooklyn's good graces, probably more so since Pabst was bought by the Russians last month. Now there's a new beverage infiltrating Bushwick and its environs: switchel, a centuries-old drink quaffed by farmers to rehydrate after a long day in the fields—like Gatorade,...
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Vessyl can tell you exactly what you're drinking

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It took seven years for startup Mark One to finally make its big product reveal: the $199 Vessyl—a cup. But as Valleywag notes, it's not so much a cup as "a 13-ounce, Bluetooth-enabled, smartphone-syncing, battery-powered supercup." It works like this: Fill the Vessyl, which looks something...
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25K of those were obese Americans

(Newser) -
As the soda wars rage across the country, a new study finds that 1% of deaths of obese adults around the world can be blamed on sugary drinks, USA Today reports. That tallied up to 180,000 obesity-related deaths linked to an over-consumption of sweetened beverages in 2010; the figure...
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Campaign 'out of Damage Control 101,' critics say

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Coca-Cola: Enemy of obesity? The soda giant calls for people to join together to fight obesity and hails its own efforts in a new ad campaign that began airing on major networks last night, the Los Angeles Times reports. "All calories count. No matter where they come from, including...
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Little evidence backs up energy drink claims

(Newser) -
Bad news, energy drink addicts: There's little actual proof that Red Bull will "give you wings" or that Monster Energy is a "killer energy brew." The wildly popular beverages—they make up the fastest-growing portion of the drink industry—are, when it comes down to it,...
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Dasani Drops are concentrated flavors customers add to water

(Newser) -
Faced with a slowing beverage market, Coca-Cola is thinking small. As in droplets. They're called Dasani Drops—tiny, concentrated flavors you can add to your water to give it some zing, and they're coming to stores in October, reports the AP . The zero-calorie drops will be in four...
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Taste won't change, but articificial 'ace-K' should improve shelf life

(Newser) -
Diet Pepsi will feature a new formula as early as next year. The taste will remain the same, but the sweetener formula will be adjusted to prolong its shelf life, reports AP . The current sweetener, aspartame, loses its strength at a faster rate than the high-fructose corn syrup used in...
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One nation, under Pepsi...

(Newser) -
One nation, under Pepsi ... or Coke. When it comes to soda, 48% of Americans have at least one every single day, according to a new Gallup poll . The remaining 52% drink zilch, but among those who do reach for a pop, they drink an average of 2.6 glasses a...
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State laws making a difference, says study

(Newser) -
Why do teens in California consume fewer calories a day than young people in other states? It's because they snack less when at school, a new study finds, and they snack less because state laws have curbed the sale of junk food and banned the sale of soda and...
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California cracks down on substance in caramel additive

(Newser) -
Coca-Cola has begun switching to a new caramel coloring—it won't be a noticeable change—to avoid being forced to slap cancer warnings on its soda in California. The chemical that delivers the distinctive color includes a substance called 4-methylimidazole, or 4-MI. In 2011, California decreed that certain levels...
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